In todays news...

[mangocrazy]

The highest base rates I've known were 17% in 1979, when I was still renting. In 1982 I took the plunge and bought a house with interest rates fluctuating between 10% and 15% for most of the 80s. I ran up considerable debts just to stay afloat during that period and it was only during the early-mid 90s that I was able to pay off my debts and become solvent again. The idea of asking for government assistance was so bizarre it never even occurred to me.

[Yambo]

I may be the only one who thinks they stand a chance then.

I am quite confident that this submersible will have features designed to mitigate most if not all of the disaster scenarios you can think of. I mean YOU dear reader because if you can think of a potential problem in the five minutes you spent thinking about it, I am sure the designer will also have thought of them in the five years it took to build it.

It is tempting to invoke the Darwin Award for people who take such risks to gawp at a shipwreck but they're still people. Pretty good people too by all accounts so I hope they get out of this alive. It is looking grim but there is yet hope.

I liked your post Screwd but a few minutes ago a friend posted on facebook the following:

"I've moved from sad to pissed off about the downed sub. Weighted, spaced cradle with conical tapered release on a pressure pad activated 1 hr timed explosive bolt. Sub would have autoreleased and be on surface by now. Where the fuck was their back up plan? Was this sub honestly operating negative buoyant on a 1 way ticket if there was an electrical failure?
I read this morning that the front viewing porthole was rated to 1,300mtrs,... in a 3,800mtr working depth. How did they get an operating ticket with gear like that? No independent 3rd party inspection maybe? Absolutely a downward route to 'aye, it'll be alright'. Fuck....
Even with Deep energy 3k rated Technip subs and a 10% over on their max WD they're still be 1/2k off bottom and i dont know any side scans that can see that far.. My minds been running like a rat, wish I could see a way to get them."

There's been one reply:

"There a few posts on redit from a few guys who where set to do work on it. One guy did one job and refused to set foot again on it for some of the very reasons you mention. Also it can't be opened from the inside."

Just as a matter of interest, my friend worked with submersibles for a pretty long time in the oil/gas exploration industry and has only recently retired. I guess the reply is from an ex work mate who also knows what he's talking about.

Not much hope left here tbh.

[Taipan]

I may be the only one who thinks they stand a chance then.

I am quite confident that this submersible will have features designed to mitigate most if not all of the disaster scenarios you can think of. I mean YOU dear reader because if you can think of a potential problem in the five minutes you spent thinking about it, I am sure the designer will also have thought of them in the five years it took to build it.

It is tempting to invoke the Darwin Award for people who take such risks to gawp at a shipwreck but they're still people. Pretty good people too by all accounts so I hope they get out of this alive. It is looking grim but there is yet hope.

i was hoping they'd ditched the ballast and floated to the surface. Not sure how they could have got snagged on anything as they don't go that close to the structures for fear of blowing the silt everywhere.

I thought they'd have one of those little beacon transmitters for when they surface as standard equipment as they could easily come up miles from the main ship on any mission? I've not seen this scenario discussed on the news at all though, only the assumption that its sunk and stuck there?

[Taipan]

What certification does the submersible have?
Patrick Hughes

Science reporter

"I understand that this sub is virtually ‘home-made’ and has no certification from any scientific technical regulatory body whatsoever,” Tim Stafell asks. “Is this true?"

Most major marine operators require that chartered vessels are “classed” by an independent group, such as the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).

Titan, the submersible involved in this case, is not classed according to Oceangate themselves. In a blog post from 2019, the firm claim that it is the innovation behind their vessel which makes it difficult for an external body to certify.

The BBC’s US partner CBS sent one of its reporters on a voyage with the same company last year to see the wreck of the Titanic.

In his report, David Pogue reads from what appears to be a waiver which describes the submersible as an “experimental” vessel, "that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death".

Pogue questioned CEO Stockton Rush about the ‘jerry-rigged nature’ of some of the components. In response, Rush said that the company worked with Nasa and Boeing to ensure the safety of the pressure vessel.

[Taff]

I read a similar article to the one that you’ve posted in, but it was more focused on the certification slowing down innovation and preventing them putting this thing to sea.

I interpret that more like certification is expensive, time consuming, and difficult to achieve if you don’t intend to meet the standards from the start. So let’s not bother with the hard bit, let’s just jump in and do the fun stuff.

This is the kind of thing that I worry about when I read headlines talking about bonfires of regulation. A lot of regulation is there for safety.

[cheb]

I may be the only one who thinks they stand a chance then.

I am quite confident that this submersible will have features designed to mitigate most if not all of the disaster scenarios you can think of. I mean YOU dear reader because if you can think of a potential problem in the five minutes you spent thinking about it, I am sure the designer will also have thought of them in the five years it took to build it.

It is tempting to invoke the Darwin Award for people who take such risks to gawp at a shipwreck but they're still people. Pretty good people too by all accounts so I hope they get out of this alive. It is looking grim but there is yet hope.

i was hoping they'd ditched the ballast and floated to the surface. Not sure how they could have got snagged on anything as they don't go that close to the structures for fear of blowing the silt everywhere.

I thought they'd have one of those little beacon transmitters for when they surface as standard equipment as they could easily come up miles from the main ship on any mission? I've not seen this scenario discussed on the news at all though, only the assumption that its sunk and stuck there?

An Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. They work very effectively. There's been numerous incidents where owners have been startled by a rescue helicopter hovering over their shed. Of course it went off by mistake and not because you were fiddling with it.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

An Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. They work very effectively. There's been numerous incidents where owners have been startled by a rescue helicopter hovering over their shed. Of course it went off by mistake and not because you were fiddling with it.

Wouldn't work under water

[Greenman]

In the early 90s interest rates hit something like 15%, lots of people (including my friend Dave) had their houses repossessed because they couldn't pay the mortgage, it took Dave years to get past this economic issue, at no point did Dave ask for a handout from the Government to help him out, he got on with working and sorted himself out financially, as did lots of other people.

In the mid 90s I had negative equity and outgoings more than my incomings, I had to borrow money to get through this period and spent years paying it off.

And now you want people who went through house repossession and negative equity to pay the mortgages of people who aren't prepared to go through the same shit as we did.

That's like saying i went though the war and you lot should go through one too.

Isn't life about making things better, rather than just going around in circles?

[Taff]

An Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. They work very effectively. There's been numerous incidents where owners have been startled by a rescue helicopter hovering over their shed. Of course it went off by mistake and not because you were fiddling with it.

Wouldn't work under water

A radio one may not, but a locator beacon that operates on sonar certainly would, and they’re pretty cheap and readily available. Afaik aircraft that have cvr and fdr fitted have them

Right now, a sonar Ping every few seconds would massively improve their chances of being found

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

In the early 90s interest rates hit something like 15%, lots of people (including my friend Dave) had their houses repossessed because they couldn't pay the mortgage, it took Dave years to get past this economic issue, at no point did Dave ask for a handout from the Government to help him out, he got on with working and sorted himself out financially, as did lots of other people.

In the mid 90s I had negative equity and outgoings more than my incomings, I had to borrow money to get through this period and spent years paying it off.

And now you want people who went through house repossession and negative equity to pay the mortgages of people who aren't prepared to go through the same shit as we did.

That's like saying i went though the war and you lot should go through one too.

Isn't life about making things better, rather than just going around in circles?

Shouldn't people have learned from the lessons of the past and known that interest rates could go up?
I think that if you want help with your mortgage whoever helps you out should own part of your house.

[JackyJoll]

Pogue questioned CEO Stockton Rush about the ‘jerry-rigged nature’ of some of the components…

Is that a combination of the best bits of jury-rigged and jerry-built?

[irie]

Anyone getting into that jerry built submarine pile of crap without even a rescue beacon or worst case evacuation/rescue plan puts their lives in the hands of luck. Seems that the die is cast and they got unlucky and will therefore die. No sympathy here.

[Pirahna]

Man gets 24 weeks inside for wanking on a seagull!

https://metro.co.uk/2023/06/21/sunderla ... sfeed_news

[Mr. Dazzle]

Man gets 24 weeks inside for wanking on a seagull!

https://metro.co.uk/2023/06/21/sunderla ... sfeed_news

That's not how you're supposed to seagull!

[Mussels]

Man gets 24 weeks inside for wanking on a seagull!

https://metro.co.uk/2023/06/21/sunderla ... sfeed_news

Since when were seagulls protected animals, I thought they were vermin?

The court also heard that police discovered Lee had been watching porn which involved animals when they searched his phone. The prosecution argued this would have distressed the seagull even more.

Would it have been less distressed if it was just a topless woman in the video?

[Screwdriver]

Damn. I had no idea that was illegal.

[Ant]

What a beautiful set of teeth he has.

[JackyJoll]

Damn. I had no idea that was illegal.

That’s half the fun.

[Ant]

Maybe he just couldn't get a gullfriend.

[ZRX61]

An Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. They work very effectively. There's been numerous incidents where owners have been startled by a rescue helicopter hovering over their shed. Of course it went off by mistake and not because you were fiddling with it.

We had a bloke working on an aircraft ELT at Duxford one afternoon. SAR Sea King shows up...He about shit his drawers & was in full blown panic mode. Actually ran away & hid.

Turns out they were on a check flight & just dropped in for a visit, but the timing was perfect.

In the US there is a certain time of day when you can test one without Thunderbird 2 showing up (I think it's about a 5 minute window)